Thursday, 12 July 2012

It is the early 1950s. A
nameless man is found on the steps of the hospital in Iasi, Romania. He
is deaf and mute, but a young nurse named Safta recognizes him from the
past and brings him paper and pencils so that he might draw. Gradually,
memories appear on the page: the man is Augustin, the cook's son at the
manor house at Poiana, where Safta was the privileged daughter. Born
six months apart, they had a connection that bypassed words, but while
Augustin's world stayed the same size, Safta's expanded to embrace
languages, society, and a fleeting love one long, hot summer. But then
came war, and in its wake a brutal Stalinist regime, and nothing would
remain the same.

Not for me. I found this book very slow and didn't feel as if I connected with the characters at all. I think this must be one of those books that is described as a 'marmite' book as i have read some reviews where people loved it and others that also found it very slow.

Saturday, 7 July 2012

Silver Hill Village,
2012. On the twentieth day of the seventh moon Kwok Yun is making her
way across the rice fields on her Flying Pigeon bicycle. Her world is
upturned when she sights a UFThing – a spinning plate in the sky – and
helps the Westerner in distress whom she discovers in the shadow of the
alien craft.

It’s not long before the village is crawling with
men from the National Security and Intelligence Agency armed with
pointed questions. And when the Westerner that Kwok Yun saved repays her
kindness with a large dollar cheque she becomes a local celebrity,
albeit under constant surveillance.

As UFO Hotels spring up, and
the local villagers go out of business, Xiaolu Guo’s startling parable
of change imagines an uneasy future for rural China and its relations
not only with Beijing but the wider world beyond.

Friday, 6 July 2012

A bewitching tale of heartbreak and hope set in 1920s Alaska. Jack and
Mabel have staked everything on making a fresh start for themselves in a
homestead 'at the world's edge' in the raw Alaskan wilderness. But as
the days grow shorter, Jack is losing his battle to clear the land, and
Mabel can no longer contain her grief for the baby she lost many years
before. The evening the first snow falls, their mood unaccountably
changes. In a moment of tenderness, the pair are surprised to find
themselves building a snowman - or rather a snow girl - together. The
next morning, all trace of her has disappeared, and Jack can't quite
shake the notion that he glimpsed a small figure - a child? - running
through the spruce trees in the dawn light. And how to explain the
little but very human tracks Mabel finds at the edge of their property?
Written with the clarity and vividness of the Russian fairytale from
which it takes its inspiration, The Snow Child is an instant classic -
the story of a couple who take a child into their hearts, all the while
knowing they can never truly call her their own.

My review:- This is the debut novel from author Eowyn Ivey. It is a lovely fairytale which offers readers of all ages a wonderful magical story. I look forward to more from this author.